CONCORD - The swath of hills and grassland expands in all directions
from the ridge where Michael Wright stands.

He raises his arm toward the horizon, pointing out what could be built
at the shuttered Concord Naval Weapons Station — townhouses here, a park
there, a university campus in that nearly hidden valley.

It's easy to envision while looking at the city's color-coded maps of
the plan.

But here, for now, the land has different masters. Squirrels scurry
across the sod roofs of hundreds of padlocked munitions bunkers. Birds
of prey rest on abandoned power lines. Cattle wander amid the 55 miles
of rusting railroad tracks.